North Sea Jazz Concert Series 1979

Description

BERTUS DISTRIBUTION PRESENTS NORTH SEA JAZZ CONCERT SERIES Bertus Distribution, in collaboration with NTR, AVROTROS, and MOJO, presents a new series of vinyl records featuring live recordings of legendary artists over the decades, made during the famous North Sea Jazz Festival. The North Sea Jazz Concert Series collection will include officially licensed records that will be released in standard version on 180-gram white vinyl in a thick paper sleeve printed on reverse board. The records will be primarily illustrated in black and white by Hans Pol, in the festival's characteristic style, drawing inspiration from the covers of old jazz records from the Blue Note label, for example. The annotations are written by jazz journalist and specialist Jeroen de Valk. For the first record in this collection, the honor goes to one of the most famous jazz singers of all time, Ella Fitzgerald. On Friday, July 13, 1979, she delivered an exceptional performance at the festival held in The Hague. The "First Lady Of Song" brilliantly performed standards such as "There Will Never Be Another You," "Satin Doll," "Round Midnight," and "Mr. Paganini." She was accompanied that night by Paul Smith on piano, Keter Betts on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums, a trio with the power of a big band. Upcoming volumes will include recordings from the NSJ by jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, Ray Charles, Dexter Gordon, and Jan Akkerman. This will be an extensive collection aimed at bringing the most extraordinary performances from the NSJ to vinyl. The first edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival took place in 1976 at the Nederlands Congresgebouw in The Hague, with around 9,000 visitors. During its inaugural edition, jazz legends such as Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stan Getz performed alongside many artists from the Dutch avant-garde. The festival, officially NN North Sea Jazz since 2018, is now considered a major international event known beyond Dutch borders as a meeting point where the jazz of yesterday, today, and tomorrow merges with other genres such as blues, soul, funk, hip-hop, pop, and more. Over the years, the festival has expanded to fifteen venues, with around thirteen hundred musicians and an annual audience of between 85,000 and 90,000 people. Since 2006, the festival has been held in a new, larger setting, the Rotterdam Ahoy.